Duitsland: "Merkel urged EU countries not to move embassies to Jerusalem"https://t.co/bg8qiThmDm— Wierd Duk (@wierdduk) December 5, 2018
The Jerusalem Post
written by Benjamin Weinthal
Tuesday December 4, 2018
The founding director of the European Coalition for Israel in Brussels, Tomas Sandell, announced in a shocking video message on Thursday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel waged a campaign to prevent central and eastern European countries from moving their capitals to Jerusalem to preserve the Iran nuclear deal.
Sandell said a Jerusalem Post exclusive report in November that Merkel called Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, to convince him to not relocate his country’s embassy to Jerusalem, prompted Sandell to go public.
Speaking from the European parliament, Sandell said, “What we have found out, something I heard for quite some time already, from central and eastern European countries that would have an inclination to move their embassy to Jerusalem, this is the natural thing for them to do, is that they have received phone calls from Berlin, from Angela Merkel, the chancellor. Basically, this cannot happen under any circumstances.”
“I have spoken to many Germans these last few days in Brussels,” he said. “They are not aware of this, and all of them would be shocked that all of the countries in the European Union today would want to block an embassy move to Jerusalem, not only for your own country, but for other countries that have the conviction [that] this is the right thing to do, the only country to do would be Germany. This is a big shock.”
He added “This is something unprecedented. This is not the Germany we once knew. This is not even the Angela Merkel we once knew when she was elected.”
Sandell said many of Merkel’s telephone calls took place to European leaders in April when “many of the nations were seriously considering moving their embassies.”
Sandell said Merkel’s anti-Israel moves have to do with the Iran nuclear deal, which “has been very much supported by Germany [and] the German government.”
He added that Merkel’s move to block the relocation of embassies was also sparked by “how Germany did not block the marking of Israeli goods from disputed territories” in 2015. He said it was anticipated that Germany would stop the penalties against Israeli products. Germany instead implemented “this counterproductive measure” to punish Israeli goods, said Sandell.
Germany and the EU singled out only Israeli goods from one territorial conflict in the world to penalize the Jewish state with a labeling system on its merchandise.
He said Merkel’s policy is “of great concern for us who support the Jewish people, support the state of Israel.”
He ended his video message by stating the importance of recognizing “Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
In an email to the Post on Tuesday, a German government spokesperson did not deny Merkel's activities and restated its comment from two weeks ago to the Post: “We cannot report from confidential talks.”
Emmanuel Nahshon , the spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, wrote the Post by email on Tuesday: "We have an ongoing dialogue over all relevant issues with the German government. For the moment we do not wish to make a media statement."
RT published on Feb 28, 2018: “No-go areas” do exist in Germany, Angela Merkel admitted in an interview, adding that the arrival of “so many refugees” in the country “has raised multiple questions.”
Al Jazeera English published on Dec 19, 2017: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has admitted mistakes were made - both before and after last year's attack on a Christmas market in Berlin.
Speaking on the anniversary of the truck attack that killed 11 people - she said both security and victim support were lacking.
But relatives of the victims still feel Merkel should be doing more.
Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane reports from Berlin.
Bloomberg Markets and Finance published on Oct 29, 2018: German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not run again to lead the Christian Democratic Union party. Merkel says she'll remain chancellor until 2021.
Journeyman Pictures published on April 4, 2016: A Night In Cologne: A series of sexual assaults perpetrated by immigrants on New Year's Eve in Cologne changed Germany's welcoming attitude to refugees and economic migrants.
Vice News published on Dec 22, 2016: Heavy security is expected in Cologne during this year’s New Year’s celebrations, following last year's multiple assaults on mainly women celebrating in front of the cathedral and the station. The 2015/2016 New Year's Eve celebrations in several German cities were rocked by a wave of sex attacks and assaults. The worst were centred on Cologne. It's estimated up to 1200 women were assaulted and 2000 (MUSLIM) men were involved. Milene Larsson travels to Cologne to speak to victims and the authorities, to try and find out what really happened, and why some events weren't made public for days.
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